Giveaway & Review: Guidecraft Natural Wood Doll Cradle & High Chair [CLOSED]

Now that most of us have gotten through the business of back-to-school, it is time to look forward to fall weather and more indoor play time. With a small handful of exceptions, it is almost always the battery-free toys that keep our children entertained for long periods of time again and again. With these toys, my children are in control, so the play is always fun. These pieces from the Guidecraft wooden doll furniture collection offers endless hours of pretend play for one, two, or all three of our children at once.

The Guidecraft doll furniture is available in two finishes . . . Espresso and Natural. Depending on which room you visit in our home, either finish would have worked for us. Our living room has dark mission style furniture, but my daughter's bedroom furniture is more white and natural shaker. We opted for the natural wood doll furniture because we think ultimately these pieces would belong in our daughter's bedroom.

We received the doll high chair and the doll cradle to test out. I was so excited when these arrived because I had to disappoint my daughter by getting rid of her previous plastic high chair and low quality wooden doll bunkbed. Both were very unstable. If a child cannot even lean a little weight on a piece of toy furniture with their hand, then I consider it to be unsafe.

It only took approximately 15 minutes for my husband to assemble both pieces of doll furniture. The cradle came with it's own tool, but you will need a Philips head screwdriver for the high chair. Both pieces were extremely sturdy and felt like real wood furniture (not to suggest that they be used for anything else other than pretend play with dolls). The only piece that was not screwed in was the footrest for the high chair. The chair is constructed so that the footrest cannot be removed, so it matters not that it wobbles a bit since it is just for show.

At 24" high, this high chair for dolls is the perfect height for a preschooler. Our 3-1/2 year old daughter can feed her doll comfortable while she is both standing or sitting. This chair should fit a doll up to 21" tall. As you can see, a 14" doll is able to sit in the chair without falling or sliding down as well. Our daughter is very pleased that the tray is large enough to fit a bowl and a cup and then some.

I chose the wooden doll cradle out of all the 3 types of doll beds offered by Guidecraft because it is the only one that is interactive. I thought my daughter would enjoy rocking her baby dolls to sleep rather than just tucking them in.

This cradle comes with a 3-piece bedding set, which includes a pad for the doll to sleep upon, a comforter, and a ruffled pillow. The color may vary because the bedding that accompanied our cradle is a lighter blue than the one shown on the website. Again, this piece of wood furniture is extremely solid and sturdy . . . a toy that would probably last long enough for my daughter to pass onto her own little girl someday.

To view Guidecraft's full line of doll furniture, children's furniture, and toys, visit Guidecraft.com . To find more reviews by moms like me about a variety of Guidecraft products, visit the Guidecraft.com Blog.

Thank you to Guidecraft for sending us sample toys free of charge to base this review upon and for providing additional toys for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a Wooden Doll Cradle and a High Chair in the Natural Finish (ARV $120).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of products offered by Guidecraft. Then leave a comment telling me the name of one item you know would put a smile on a child's face this Holiday season. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, sign up for the Guidecraft E-Newsletter (at the bottom of the page). Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did so. If you use a different email than the one you are using to enter this contest, then please include it in your entry. I will be verifying these entries.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry each, follow Guidecraft on Twitter and/or "Like" Guidecraft on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, October 4th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Silly Monkey Stories: A Stunt Monkey

Almost two years ago, Santa brought Makenzie this doll and doll bunk bed for her first Christmas. Before she could even walk, Makenzie learned to climb up into the top bunk and sit there like a princess on her throne. As a result, we had to put the bunk bed aside until she was old enough to understand that sitting on a doll's bed was dangerous.

About six months ago, my husband and I decided that she was old enough to have the doll bed next to her toddler bed so her dolls could sleep with her, but not take up her whole bed. Everything seemed to be working out fine until a few weeks ago.

I was sitting on my bed typing away, just like I am now, when I heard a big thundering crash followed by Makenzie crying, "Mommy, help me!" So I rushed to her room to find her standing inside the doll bed. She had tried to stand on the top bunk and fell through both levels. The bunkie boards only rest on a lip around the edges. We are so lucky she did not get seriously hurt except for a scrape on the top of her foot.



After this scare, we ended up taking the bottom bunk out of the equation. So now she has just a single layer doll bed. We couldn't have done this too soon because the other night I heard another loud noise. When I went into Makenzie's room to check on her, she was sitting on her bed looking as innocent as she could and I could see that the board from the bed had fallen through again. After that huge scare, she still tried to stand on the bed again! What are we going to do with her?

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If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!